Financial information

Statement of financial accounts, examined by external auditors, are published each year. For 2022 to 2023 this includes the accounts of the former North Yorkshire County Council and the former district and borough councils in North Yorkshire.

The Statements of Accounts set out how the money for each former council was spent and raised throughout the year. It also shows a year-end balance sheet that summarises the value of each council’s assets and liabilities.

Councils must produce an annual Statement of Accounts in accordance with legislative requirements and the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced that the deadline for publication of the draft unaudited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 is 31 May 2023. 

On 1 April 2023 North Yorkshire moved to a unitary model of local government replacing eight councils with one.  Statement of Accounts are still required to be published for each of the eight legacy councils for the year ended 31 March 2023. 

Statement of Accounts for Hambleton District Council, Ryedale District Council and Selby District Council were published on 31 May 2023. The commencement period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) should include the first 10 working days of June, with inspection dates being between 1 June and 12 July 2023.

The audit of the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 is still in progress for Craven District Council, Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Richmondshire District Council and Scarborough Borough Council, due to a variety of complex factors arising from audit delays, some from previous years.  This has impacted on the commencement of the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 and we will therefore not be in a position to commence the period for the exercise of public rights as set out above. The draft unaudited accounts and the period for the exercise of public rights will be published as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Statement of accounts for North Yorkshire County Council were published on 12 June 2023. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234) and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) runs from Tuesday 13 June 2023 to Monday 24 July 2023 inclusive.

Statement of accounts for Scarborough Borough Council were published on 14 June 2023. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234) and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) runs from Thursday 15 June 2023 to Wednesday 26 July 2023 inclusive.

Statement of accounts for Richmondshire District Council were published on 15 June 2023. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234) and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) runs from Friday 16 June 2023 to Thursday 27 July 2023 inclusive.

Statement of accounts for Harrogate Borough Council were published on 19 July 2023. The period for the exercise of public rights to inspect these draft accounts and related documents, as per the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234) and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263) runs from Friday 20 July 2023 to Thursday 31 August 2023 inclusive.

Statement of Accounts of former North Yorkshire councils from previous years

Statement of Accounts for all former councils in North Yorkshire for previous financial years can be found on the Data North Yorkshire website. To find accounts for a specific former council, select the former council from the list of organisations and search for 'accounts'.

North Yorkshire County Council delay in publishing audited Statement of Accounts for year ended 31 March 2022

In March 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) passed new legislation, The Accounts and Audit Amendment Regulations 2021, which relate to financial years ending 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022. The amendment stipulates that unaudited accounts must be published by 31 July in each of these years but local authorities can choose to publish earlier. We elected to publish the unaudited accounts on 8 July 2022.

The deadline for the publication of North Yorkshire County Council’s Statement of Accounts and Audit Opinion was 30 November 2022.  

The external audit of the draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 has not yet been completed.

This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234), as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/263).

This notification explains, as per Regulation 10 (2) (a), that we are not yet able to publish our audited 2021/22 Statement of Accounts in line with the publication date of 30 November 2022, as per Regulation 10 (1).

North Yorkshire County Council is continuing to work closely with the external auditor to ensure the required work is completed as soon as possible.

In line with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, North Yorkshire County Council published a draft Statement of Accounts subject to audit on 8 July 2022. These can be accessed below.

The final audited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 will be published as soon as the audit is concluded, and the Independent Auditor’s Report issued.

2021-22 account